I FINALLY wrote down Calvin's birth story! I figured I should get it written down before I give birth to baby #3! Luckily, I took notes while I was in labor to keep track of when things happened!
We were so excited when we found out we were pregnant with Calvin! We’d been trying for over a year and I did a round of Clomid to get pregnant with him. So we were very happy to find out that one round was all it took to get pregnant!
At about 19 weeks pregnant, we found out there was something wrong with Calvin’s arm. They weren’t quite sure what was going on or why it was happening. His left arm was measuring smaller than his right arm and his hand didn’t look normal either. We continued to have ultrasounds with the maternal fetal medicine doctors (high risk doctors) to make sure he was still growing. At about 38 weeks, they told us that they didn’t think his right hand was normal either. His arm looked good, but they could never get a good glimpse of his right hand so they didn’t think it was normal. But they couldn’t tell exactly what was wrong. So we were on the waiting train to find out exactly what was going on. We would find out what things looked like when he was born.
We also had to have a fetal echocardiogram. It was expensive! Mostly because we had it in January and so we were starting over with our deductible. One side of his heart was larger than the other (I can’t remember which side it was now), and there was one part of his heart that they couldn’t see because of his positioning. But they said there was a chance that he would have to be life flighted to Primary’s and have open heart surgery right away to fix the part that they couldn’t see. So we were not excited for that.
At my 38 week appointment, my blood pressure was higher than normal (we had this problem with Wyatt at 39 weeks and had to go straight to the hospital to be induced with him). Luckily, it wasn’t high enough to need to go to the hospital. Dr. Orr told me to take my blood pressure every day and if it got to a certain number to go to the hospital.
I made it to my 39 week appointment! We scheduled an induction for the following Sunday. I still needed to track my blood pressure to make sure it didn’t get too high. On Saturday, Jeff and I were going to take Wyatt to my parents house and then go see a movie as our last date before the baby came. But, alas, my blood pressure was really high and kept getting higher each time I took it. I was probably too worried about it and causing it to get higher. So instead of going to a movie, we went to the hospital. My blood pressure there was normal. So frustrating! But they decided to keep me since I’d be coming in the next morning anyway.
We were admitted to St. Mark’s Hospital around 9 pm. It took them a little bit to get a hold of Dr. Orr. But she got there and broke my water at about 10:30 pm. It was a sleepless night for me. Jeff was able get a little bit of sleep. I was really uncomfortable with contractions but they didn’t want to give me the epidural yet so that it wouldn’t wear off. I also think there was only one anesthesiologist at the hospital at the time and they were in doing a C-section. The nurse gave me some type of pill, not sure what the name was, but it was supposed to take the edge off of the contractions and make me a little woozy. It definitely made me woozy, but I don’t feel it did much to help with the contractions.
Finally, at 3 am, the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. We woke Jeff up so he could help with it. He came in front of me and held my hands. I had a contraction, and Jeff, still being a little tired, was trying to help me breathe through it but his breath smelled so bad! I felt bad for saying it, but I was in labor and in pain, but I had to ask him to stop breathing in my face! I thought it was a little bit funny. So did the nurse and the anesthesiologist.
At about 5:00 am they started me on pitocin to help the labor move along. They didn’t have to put me on too much, which I was grateful for. I was scared to get induced again since I had to have a C-section with Wyatt when I was induced with him.
The pitocin worked because at 7:15 am I was at 10 cm dilated! I was ready to push! It was pretty exciting. We had to wait a little longer for Dr. Orr to get there. I started pushing at 7:39 am. It was definitely a different experience than I had with Wyatt. But it was so good. I loved giving birth vaginally and it was so exciting (recovery was a different story). Jeff’s sister, Kaylee, came at around 8:30 am to help take pictures of the birth and be a part of the excitement!
At 9:44 am on Sunday, February 24, 2019, Calvin Leland Sandberg was born! He came out screaming and moving his left arm all around. He looked beautiful! We were excited to see him moving his arm because we weren’t sure what things were going to look like. Everything was good with his heart and he got to stay at St. Mark’s Hospital with us like any normal baby!
He was born with his left arm shorter than his right, and with only 3 digits - a thumb and two fingers. The two fingers were fused together. His right hand also only had a thumb and two fingers, but were normal other than missing two digits. At a later appointment with a cardiologist, we also found out that he had a small VSD and a bicuspid aortic valve instead of a normal tricuspid valve. He should be able to live a normal life with a few adjustments in how he does things. We are so excited to see him grow up and see all the amazing things he is going to do in his life!
FAST FORWARD
Calvin was supposed to have surgery on his arm in March 2020. But because of Covid-19, that got cancelled since it was an “elective” surgery. We were finally able to reschedule it for July 10, 2020. I was the only one that was able to go to the hospital with him. It was a four hour surgery. Along with separating his fingers and rotating his thumb, he had a hypospadias repair done. The surgery was successful and he now has two separate fingers. They still don’t work quite as normal, but he will learn how to adjust and do things his own way.
Pictures of Calvin's surgery date.
Ashley.
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